A little room to think

I make quite a lot of errors. Actually, many, many errors. I do it on purpose. Sort of. It is very difficult to admit to being wrong but there you go, I am wrong a lot of the time and I am largely unapologetic for it.

I may be wrong but...

We fear being wrong but it is actually a very important part of our development as individuals and as a species. Being wrong plays a very large role in how we shift towards being right through a whole range of ways as it gives us feedback and makes us review and think again.

This is where most of my mistakes lay, in my thoughts. My actions have a fair few as well but in my thoughts is where I can safely simulate a huge range of possibilities and inevitably, most are going to be poor moves. This is why I try to make them in my head rather than in my actions.

Slow down buddy

The human mind is relatively lazy and prefers to conserve energy. When it has a problem to solve, it will work to find a suitable solution, not the best solution. This means once there is a fix for the issue, the mind stops searching past that point as it considers the case closed.

In circumstances that require quick actions, this may not be a bad process but if we only train the fast thinking side of our brain, we begin to rely too heavily on it. That means we become increasingly unlikely to invest when there are complex issues that require contemplative thought and careful consideration.

Instead, we make a snap judgement and move on. We all do this across a range of things and this results in an increased number of real world mistakes. This is feedback too and helps us discover where we went wrong.

I may be wrong but...

In some ways, this range of thought and action errors work like genetic mutations that help us grow and adapt to the current requirements. Not only must we face the elements, we must face our poor actions within the environment and improve for better results.

A lot of these things can be thought through alone but, it is also useful to be able to bounce ideas off other minds with varied backgrounds and perspectives.If everyone is in it to reach the best result, it can be very beneficial.

The problem often is however that we do not want to make mistakes in front of people and we definitely do not want them singled-out for criticism, even if they are just the starting ideas, the first feelers of development.

Think before you act, but don't tell your thoughts

Many find it difficult to throw ideas out to an audience out of fear that they will not be judged favourably. This means that a lot of potentially good ideas are lost without ever seeing the light of day. Part of the issue is that for most of our experience, there is a social cost to a bad idea.

People tend to judge others on the ideas they have before they have even decided whether they will act upon the idea at all. This means that one can't have an open process and if worried about being judged, will gauge the audience and only forward what will likely get supported. This is very limiting when it comes to finding best solutions for the real issues we face.

It means that people are more likely to stay close to the group average rather than push the boundaries of their thinking, or at least the edges of their public idea development. This means that we are unlikely to have solutions to issues that are optimal as we can only have what is already close to being accepted which is close to what we already have.

If more ideas are presented, more ideas can be considered and possibly benefit from compounding with others. Plus, with a wider range of ideas in the open, there is more chance to inspire new thoughts again.

On the trampoline

For me, I like to bounce ideas and Steemit is awesome for this. There are so many ways to get feedback and potentially inspire other ideas that spread out into the platform. The issue is of course that I have ideas across areas that I do not necessarily have a great grasp on, this means, a fair number may be bad ideas. Or, at least bad in the basic form I first present them.

But, with a decent group of minds, potentially there are some good or close to good ideas in the mix and even if there is not, there is still benefit. Considering bad ideas instead of just dismissing them helps practice the slow thinking skills which means that less good ideas will slip through the cracks too.

Slowing down our thinking a little and taking the time to process ideas more laterally gives us a lot more range when it comes to available options. It also gives us a little more time to double check before jumping straight into it.

Think bad thoughts

In my opinion, there are no bad ideas, but there are actions made on bad ideas. When it comes to what we do, it is better to take the time to 'measure twice cut once' instead of incurring a real-world penalty. At Steemit, many of the posts we create are ideas, not actions and it is a place where we can discuss things at length if needed.

Too often though we see words and beliefs as actions made, rather than concepts held. Concepts are in a continual flux state and can change drastically with new information. Rarely will new information be considered however if it is delivered aggressively as it raises a defensive mechanism in most people and knowing this, most people will avoid situations it can happen. This means they hang with people who are likely to agree with them.

This way there is less chance of having their ideas challenged which means they are in a mental echo chamber and if they do hold poor ideas, the entire group may support. This can obviously lead to some very bad behaviour when bad ideas go unchallenged and are instead driven into action instead.

Think bad thoughts

Again in my opinion, there are no such things as 'bad thoughts' but, there are poor actions. Bad thoughts are a natural process we should encourage but, we should encourage the depth of thought required to recognise their illegitimacy for action. In this way we can continually drive solutions by pushing our thoughts to the peripheries and then removing what is not suitable.

This post goes around in a few circles and some areas require a lot more detail or a little less. Sometimes when I think I like to run various sized circles around topics to see what comes up. Occasionally when I write I attempt to get the reader to join on the journey, so rather than focus on what is being said, their mind wanders into other areas too. I do not know if I succeed at this.

Some people find it very frustrating to get information that isn't spelled out clearly but information that doesn't make one think and take ownership for, is unlikely to be considered deeply enough to be useful.

Ideas need the space to grow in the same way a seed must become a tree before it can bear fruit. Destroying the ideas before they take root means no new trees and branches can develop to create the next generation. Sometimes, all it takes for a bad idea to develop into a good one, is a little room to think.

Good or bad, here are some thoughts.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]